Module 5 Communication concepts and reflection

“We define an information ecology to be a system of people, practices, values, and technologies in a particular local environment. In information ecologies, the spotlight is not on technology, but on human activities that are served by technology.”
(Nardi & O’Day, 1999)



I guess the manner in which we have become so reliant on the Internet during our everyday life in Australia, it has become more and more a part of our nature, slowly embracing online technology and the information it brings us.



We socialise on the net through Facebook, we buy our clothes/music online, we make business deals and financial transactions, we put our cars up for sale, etc etc





This form of interdependence has led to many changes in the way we interact with other human beings and has led me to think of the net not just as an information service, but an alternative culture or lifestyle. So many things that we used to have to do through the process of " real" activities, such as walking to the real estate agency to look for a new house, can now be done through the click of a button. Nowhere near as personal, much more insular, but more efficient. Have we lost part of our human nature? Does the fact that I have daily updates from all of my friends, all over the world through Facebook make up for the fact I haven't seen them face to face in a year even though they live ten minutes away?



The Internet is great because not only does it allow us to intake information, it also lets us create it, allowing us to shape its environment in which ever manner we please. Peer to Peer networks allow us to exchange files and data without any constraints, MySpace and Youtube give us the freedom to post our thoughts/music/art online for all the world to see, creating a new economy, breaking down physical and geographical barriers.



There is so much more to look forward to, so much more to evolve, not just technologically but as a society and global economy.



Studying this unit and NET12 has made it clearer of the potential the Internet has to unite cultures, religions and friends through new techonologies, business models and virtual communites through the evolving manner in which we absorb information and the different ways we communicate this information to each other.